"Essential Money Saving Tips For Students"

[Trillionphil]

It is easy to get caught in the rush of things when you are in college. In the midst of studying, part-time jobs, socializing and extracurricular activities that you have, you are most likely to forget one of the most important things, which is straightening out your finances.

Here are some tips on how you can save money as a student:

1. Plan ahead.

If possible, do this even before you move into your dorm room.

Check if you are eligible for scholarships and other grants before signing up for any form of student loan.

Construct a cash flow. First, where do you expect to get money from? Make a list of your “income”, be it from your parents, your student loan or your part-time job.

Then forecast your expected monthly or weekly expenses for food, books, etc. Once you have set aside a budget, be strict with yourself and stick to it.

You will never know what unexpected expenses would come your way so it is better to have a downfall for financial emergencies.

2. Save on food.

One of the major expenses that you have as a student which you might have ignored when you were still living with your parents is your food allowance. Avoid eating at fast food outlets, as this is most likely to ruin your budget. Pack your lunch and plan your meals as much as you can.

3. Take full advantage of student discounts.

Those ID’s in your wallet are not just for show. Student ID’s and memberships in organizations are honored in several establishments which offer discounts.

Also, patronize a certain establishment regularly and you are bound to get bonus cards for being a loyal customer.

4. Use your cash as much as you can.

Since you already have a draft of the items where you will spend your money, it is easier to monitor your cash flow. Avoid using your debit card when you have cash with you. Use your credit cards or write checks only in emergencies. Having debit cards, credit cards and checks handy might lead you to overspend.

5. Keep yourself busy.

Join clubs according to your field of interest.

Keeping busy will let your mind wander and help you stay away from things that you are likely to spend money on when you get bored. Examples of these are snacks, movie tickets or game rentals.

You will be surprised at the amount of money that you will actually save by spending less on luxury items, following your budget plan and saving for financial emergencies that you are most likely to get as a college student.




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[Alexandoy]

When I was in high school there was a bank called Banco Filipino that had a campaign for students to open an account with them. The initial deposit was only 1 peso (around 1 dollar at that time) so it is easy for the student. My mother gave me 2 pesos and there you go, I had my first bank account. I was so proud of the passbook that I showed it to everyone. That pushed me to save more so that I would have bragging rights. However, I would withdraw money from time to time for incidental expenses like gifts or maybe to treat someone to a snack. I was fond of chocolates and candies so those days I could pamper myself somehow courtesy of my savings.

 

[Augusta]

Being a student with limited funds is the time to be very prudent with money to avoid making lack of funds clash with your studies. It can be devastating when hunger come into the mix with other hassles that one go through as a student. The first thing is contentment, only go for what you can afford and are very necessary, plan and make a budget with only what you have left after taking out your saving money. Go to areas that things are cheaper and buy them,as a student it isn't time to want luxuries or what is in Vogue try to live by your means

 

[Holicent]

If you are a student, there are certain things that you need to consider when you want to save money. You will be able to do it if you follow the tips below.

Here are some essential money saving tips for students:

Start with your grocery shopping. Always buy in bulk when possible. This is because it will save you money by reducing the total number of items that you need for a given meal.

Use coupons wisely and only when really necessary. If you use them too often, they won't be useful anymore and so it might not be worth your while spending the time on searching them up online and applying them on your purchases.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Try to save some cash as well as you can by taking advantage of online resources, such as travel websites, credit unions and banks. Also, be sure to check out the prices before booking your flights or hotels.

Don't forget about transportation costs when looking at vacation spots. If you decide on a trip that involves an airport transfer (e.g., from LAX to Disneyland), factor the cost into the overall cost of your trip — especially if it's more than $25 each way.

Look for unexpected ways to save money — even when you're not planning ahead for them. For example, if you want to go see a show at an amusement park, find out if there's any discount available for students or senior citizens (some parks will waive their regular admission fee or offer free admission days). Also try asking friends if they have any extra passes or discounts they can give away.

 

[Augusta]

Students that live on budget needs to know that they should save as much as they can as the money wouldn't be made available to them by their sponsors all the time.

It is good for them to apply not only opportunity cost in their daily financial activities but scale of preference as well. Opportunity cost is the act of letting go of one thing for another important thing. To do your opportunity cost perfectly it is good to draw up a table of preference and list your wants in order of importance.

Then after listing them you can now use opportunity cost to pick the one to go for and the ones to let go for the time being. it isn't that you might not need to go for those you are letting go now. But you are just trying to go for the most that will benefit you in the most now.

 

[Sotherefore]

Those are perfect ways to manage your budget as a student. Thanks so much for sharing because I will definitely need this at some point in my life . And to also add to this I will suggest that students should not be carried away by the luxury lifestyle of so many other students in the school compound , because if we are being carried away , we might likely spend our money wrongly on something that may not likely help us in the future.

You should only know yourself and know what you want , it is important for us to pursue what we need in life firsts then other things can comes later.

Its seems so many students most especially the new student are easily distracted by the luxury lifestyle of most students and as result they will always divert their little savings into fashions and other things that will not help them have good savings.

 

[Jasz]

If you want to save money, it's important to be disciplined and set aside a certain amount of money each month. If you don't have an emergency fund, start with that. Then build up your savings account.

Here are some tips on how to do that:

Set up automatic transfers from your account into a savings or money market account. This is the easiest way to save without thinking about it too hard. You can schedule the transfer for once a week or once a month — whatever works best for your budget.

Make sure you're not spending money you don't have. Before you make any big purchases, check your bank balance so there won't be any surprises down the road. That way, if you're out of cash at the end of the month and need to put something on credit card, it won't be an emergency situation because you already know about it ahead of time.

Think about how much money you'll need for emergencies — things like repairs or medical bills — and set aside some funds for those situations as well as other unexpected expenses like travel costs or gifts for birthdays and holidays (if they're not part of your normal budget).